Archivalness

[P C Headland]

Sitting sick here at home today, with the sun out and being sick enough not to go outside, I had an idea....  Let me know if you think this would be a good idea or not.

I'd like to be able to test some inkjet prints to see how they survive in the NZ sun. 6x4" (10x15cm) prints would be fine.

I'll line them up on the window sill with a card across half of the print, covering it up, leaving the other half exposed.

If you're interested PM me - I'd like to get examples from Canon, Epson and HP models.  I'd get you to note the model and inkset used on the back of the print.  If I can get a selection together before mid to end of January, I can leave them for a month or two in the summer sun.

[Mike Kovacs]

I would suggest some sort of control as well.  Frontier print on colour photographic paper?

[connealy]

I can contribute a print done with Epson Ultrachrome inks in my Epson Stylus Photo R2400.  I'll be a bit disappointed if it can't survive a month in the sun considering what I pay for a set of cartridges.

I picked up this print yesterday at a junk store near Canutillo, Texas.  I doubt it spent any time in the sun, but the colors didn't hold up very well anyway.



The back of the photo says Kodacolor Print...Week of Dec. 19, 1949.  If I had taken the picture, I probably wouldn't be pleased with the color change, but I think it is actually pretty interesting.  I also like the fact that a handwritten note on the back identifies the subject and place.

[Major Black]

I'll send you a print on the swellable polymer Ilford classic gloss paper printed on my epson 1280 and also some on matte paper, epson and red river.

Addy?

[OleTj]

I'll send you a postcard - made on archivally processed Ilford MG IV postcard stock

[Julio1fer]

Probably you already know ths reference, but Wilhelm's book would be a good place to take a look at the techniques used to evaluate aging.  

And you may download it for free, too.

[P C Headland]

Probably you already know ths reference, but Wilhelm's book would be a good place to take a look at the techniques used to evaluate aging.  

And you may download it for free, too.

I'm not going to try a scientific test, more of a real world torture test , and just for the fun of it.

I've seen so-called colourfast stuff (materials, prints, etc) last next to no time in the sun here.  My dad used to work in the fabric industry, and he frequently had to deal with fabrics that had been rated as having excellent fade resistance fading within a year here.  My car interior, which lasted five summers in Italy, didn't make it through one summer here before it disintigrated...

I'll collect the names of all the respondees and send you all a PM with my address.

So, any Canon printers volunteering?

[Graham Serretta]

Paul - I'll send you prints from my Canon i9500, Epson 925 and lowly HP990cxi.

I bet they don't last a week!

Your sun is about the same as the Oz variety - when I was in the outback a couple years ago,  I encountered a tourist at Ulhuru whose black SLR fried after a couple of hours in the sun and stopped working.  I have never been so thankful to have a silver camera!

[Mike Kovacs]

I still think some sort of gold standard control is a good idea.  The prints will fade (and quickly) in direct sun with no glass to protect them.  I think you might find a B&W silver print will become more damaged than you might expect.

Ozone is also a bad culprit for inkjet prints.  Keeping them behind glass helps a lot to alleviate this problem as well.

[P C Headland]

Ole looks like he will supply a B+W print, and I have some machine printed prints that I can use, so we can see how these do compared to the inkjet prints.

I'll send a PM tonight with my address.

BTW, a test inkjet image that withstood the windowsill sun in Holland for two summers has faded badly before even the first month of summer has finished here.  Can't remember which printer it was from, but it does show the difference in the sun's damage potential.

[Josh]

I have a print I made with an Epson R220 on Epson Ultra Premuim Glossy Photo Paper using MIS pigment inks UT-R2 B&W warm set.  Would be interesting to see how it does after all the claims of archivalness that is made with this set.

PM me your addy and I'll send it along.

Josh

[OleTj]

It looks like I'll supply not one, but FOUR BW prints: One untoned, one selenium toned, one polysulfide toned, and one ("gold standard?) gold toned. It will be interesting to learn if there are any differences.

[P C Headland]

Damn, I'm going to need quite a bit of window space ....

Thanks everyone.

[P C Headland]

Just received the first of the test prints from Mike C.  I am hoping the others who have kindly offered to send a test print can do in the next couple of weeks, as I'd like to kick the test off by the end of this month.

Thanks Mike!

[Josh]

Hi, letting you know I put my sample in the mail today.  The holes in the bottom and corner are from the cat, he likes biting film and prints for some reason.  Sometimes he licks them too...stupid cat.

josh